Monday, December 06, 2004

Democrats Move to the Right...Again.

There has been some small rukus regarding these two statements, quoted below. released by well placed Democrats.

We've got to repudiate, you know, the most strident and insulting anti-American voices out there sometimes on our party's left... We can't have our party identified by Michael Moore and Hollywood as our cultural values.

—Al From,CEO, Democratic Leadership Council

You know, let's let Hollywood and the Cannes Film Festival fawn all over Michael Moore. We ought to make it pretty clear that he sure doesn't speak for us when it comes to standing up for our country.

—Will Marshall, President of the Progressive Policy Institute, the think-tank of the DLC

As I've said elsewhere, this continuing push to the right, by the Democratic national leadership, is disturbing but not surprising. It is the continuation of a long set trend in the leadership of the Party. Pushing ever further to the right.

The leadership seems to believe they will retain the democratic core, no matter what. So, they think the solution is to win a chunk of the conservative vote. They could be making a large mistake and pulling away from their core at the perfectly wrong time.

The next four years of Republican rule could well push the county to the left just as the Dems make their shift to the right. Left and Right just don't have the same meanings that they once had. The political middle appears to have shifted far to the right. Everybody to the left of Fearless Leader is now a Liberal, whether you think you are, or not.

The Democrats do not need to go any further to the right, to pick up the many disaffected old style conservatives, who I believe will fall away from the Republican umbrella over the next four years. Pulling further from its already hurting and demoralized base, will pave the way for a serious third party appearance. Especially as there will be so little difference between the Ds and Rs.

Maybe the DLC is marching right...into oblivion.

The DLC is so far removed from its political base it no longer knows where or what that base is. The Democratic Party leadership is trying to dance with the opposition and in doing so, is allowing the opposition to lead, to set the cadence.

Any decent boxing coach will tell you that when you control the cadence and the rhythm of the fight, you control the fight. You control the offensive action when your opponent only reacts to your pace.

Again, I believe the leadership of the Democratic Party rather thoughtlessly assumes their mass base will follow them, for lack of a real choice. I think they are dead wrong this time. If they are wrong, the price could be monumental as it may be remembered as the end of the Democrats.

I can perceive a possible future in which the Democrats are viewed as a third party vote spoiler, by all involved.

That may be far a fetched scenario but the next four to eight years are going to be very interesting times for the Democrats and their party.

Personally, I have no allegiance to the Democrats. They do not represent a real alternative to the corporate, anti-democratic forces that shape the Republican party. They are trying to make a hit on the same corporate casting couch.

One thing the Dem heads seem to lose sight of: For every 'swing voter' Moore lost them, he gained several new, first time voters for the Democrats. Moore does not need the Democrats.

I am hoping to see a real political alternative, born out of those who will spill from the Democratic Party. If those disaffected liberal democrats can link with people from outside the old party framework, new ideas will be born.

If something like a voting coalition could be formed or a unifying third party comes into existence, we still have the problem of a seriously dysfunctional electoral/voting system. The present system can not be trusted. It is corrupted, open to wide spread abuse, and does not inspire trust and respect on the part of the masses.

3 Comments:

You are correct. The current voting system is currupt and it can't be trusted. However their are interesting events taking place, for example in Columbus, Ohio Dec 4, 2004 — About 400 protesters gathered outside the Statehouse on Saturday to support a recount of the presidential election in Ohio and they called for an investigation into Election Day irregularities.

Jesse Jackson as well as the leader of the Green Party, are also involved in spearheading the Ohio and New Mexico recounts. Unfortunately for the DMC, John Kerry is the Dem with all the cash left over from his 2004 campaign, and thus far he appears to be unwilling to part with his cash to aid the recount or the emerging election reform movement.

The Democrats would earn my eternal respect if they would stand up to these Bible-thumpers and jarheads and say, "Look, we don't represent you and you don't represent the people of America. You may be on the winning side now but that does not make you right about anything. We are not getting your vote so we won't even try to pander to your instincts; in fact, we don't even want your vote. The votes we seek are from those of us who care about society and don't want to see our nation in endless war and in a state of religious infighting. If that doesn't describe you, then you have less than no voice with us." Man, if I ever heard that, I'd wear a "D" on my shirt every day of my life.

If the Dismalcrats had any integrity, which they don't, if they had ANY sense of responsibility towards "old America," which they don't, as well as any concern for making a historic statement to the world about their moral opposition to the blatantly fascist regime which has taken over the country, then I would suggest they could recoup all their credibility, which they don't have, by doing the only thing they can possibly do to resist the fascists in power:

They could undertake a momentous symbolic stance of passive, non-violent resistance that would resonate worldwide: Refuse to participate in the sham of government by boycotting the Senate and House of Representatives. Yes, stand down and refuse to collaborate with the fascists. How would the "United States" then be perceived by the Freer World? It would be an allegedly "democratic" country, the world's sole "superpower," that is represented by a ONE PARTY system. How could the U.S. live that down? No amount of PR, spin, or Roveian babble could explain away such a drastic statement to the world. The "world's greatest democracy" run by one party. Now that would be radical--a radical vote for the Truth.

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About Me

Raised from age three in small town and semi rural areas of Alabama, I am something of a converted redneck. A 'leftneck' as a Virginia friend calls himself. Being a product of one of the lowest appendages of American culture and sink holes of the economy, I represented class A cannon fodder during the Vietnam war.
I ended my Air Force enlistment, without permission, in 1969. I have lived in Canada since 1970.
The horrible din made by the destruction of American democracy, inspires and prods me to write about what I see from my expatriate view of America.